Hilton Orrington is situated in the heart of the college town of Evanston. A picturesque lakeshore metropolis, exuding charm and Wildcat pride. Home to the Wildcats of Northwestern University, you'll be immersed in the scholarly liveliness of collegiate life, as well as plentiful recreational lake town activities and the distinct authenticity of mom-and-pop shops, eateries, distilleries, and breweries moments from downtown Chicago. Walk through the historic tree-lined streets of Evanston, to gain a greater appreciation of the nineteenth-century architectural style, enjoy a sun-soaked day at Light House or Clark Street Beach, along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. Immerse into the culture with a visit to Frances Willard House Museum, Halim Time & Glass Museum, Block Museum of Art, Evanston History Century, Gross Point Light House, or the Emil Bach House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travelers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
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The Hilton Orrington/Evanston hotel presents a mixed bag of impressions. While its location earns praise for convenience to local attractions, opinions diverge on the atmosphere, with some guests finding the ambiance comforting and others dissatisfied by the dated feel.
The hotel's cleanliness and room conditions have also received varied feedback, with certain travelers enjoying pristine accommodations and others encountering issues. Furthermore, critiques of the value point to steep prices and hidden charges, and while some guests commend the amenities and staff, others express disappointment with the services and upkeep.
Location
Convenient
Atmosphere
Outdated
Rooms
Unkempt
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Mixed
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Underwhelming
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The location of the hotel is very convenient to Northwestern University and in a nice part of of Evanston (there's a Whole Foods Market just a few blocks away, for example). The front desk staff is extremely friendly, welcoming, and competent. The hotel is undergoing renovation, and I was lucky to snag one of the renovated rooms. It was clean and everything worked and was easy to figure out (it is getting more and more common that the HVAC is either impossible to figure out, is too loud, smells like mold, or simply doesn't work: that was not the case here. In short, the hotel was exactly what one expects: no more, no less.
The hotel restaurant, on the other hand is pretty bad. I had dinner one night ( a vege pasta dish) and it was cold and tasteless. The service was incredibly bad: one young man who it seemed certain was a slacker. I also had breakfast: a vege omelette. Again, the food was cold by the time I got it, but it did have a bit more flavor than the dinner. The server at breakfast was working very hard, but it appeared that she was the only one working in the restaurant. Clearly, the restaurant needs to up their game.
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Date of stay: July 2024
Location
Trip type: Traveled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Had some great times at this trip and some bad times at this trip. We stayed at this hotel for 5 days. First I have to shout out billy at the front desk. Anytime we had any issue he was on top of it, he was friendly, remembered our names and faces and made us feel really special.
But for the bad part… we walked into our room and the carpet was soaking wet, the smoke alarm was completely taped up and my glasses fogged up it was so humid. We asked to switch rooms and we were denied even though we were platinum members. They told us to turn the AC to the max help the humidity. We also asked to have our sheets changed, towels changed, and room cleaned everyday It did not happen once. We had gone up to the front desk 3 days in a row asking for maid service and it just never happened. When we were leaving the maids actually came up to us and got mad at us for never having our room cleaned!!! They also told us we would be charged for that was not cool. Since we were staying as platinum members we just wanted to be taken more seriously and with more respect
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Date of stay: August 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Alas, the Orrington is no longer a 4 star hotel. While the staff is still nice and the location good, the hotel is in he worst shape it’s been in decades. It no longer has expected hotel services. Examples: no room service, dining room, or bar and maid service only on request. The carpets and upholstery are stained, towels thread bare, plumbing iffy and the list goes on. If you’re a high ranking Hilton member, don’t expect breakfast. Instead, you’ll be given a credit for a box breakfast which will be small and won’t even include cream for your coffee. I used to look forward to staying at the Orrington. It was like a home away from home. No more.
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Date of stay: October 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We had a family event in Evanston and reserved the Chancellor/Presidential suite to have a place for out of town guests to gather and connect in a casual atmosphere. The room was perfect, we brought in/catered our own food and people were able to come and go over the two days we were there. We were also transporting local folks back and forth and the valet staff was excellent and accommodating. Loved being in downtown Evanston.
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Review collected in partnership with Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Date of stay: May 2023
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is not the quality you would expect from a Hilton Hotel. The rooms are bizarrely outdated, carpets have stains on them, and even a random bobby-pin left on the floor. The lamination on the tub is coming off, the ceiling is flaking. There’s these odd barn style double doors with glazed glass. The bathroom doors do not lock, and people walking by can make you out while in the bathroom. The lamp by the bedside’s outlet is so old when you try to plug in your phone to charge it, it just wiggles out. The cabinet door on the tiniest refrigerator you have ever seen was about to fall off. The bathroom is the strangest setup I’ve ever seen. Would you like the toilet almost inside the tub, or perhaps no counter space to even put a toothbrush, or best of all how about a towel rack INSIDE the tub? Just when you think it couldn’t possibly be any lower quality, don’t worry, there’s more. Would you like to watch TV, nope that won’t be possible. They must have the oldest Directv known to man “operating” at this hotel. Don’t worry though, there’s a remote with channel buttons that don’t work, you have to press the digits, and then you get to watch a scrambled channel because of a poorly aligned dish. I had asked about use of a microwave, you can either trudge down to the lobby or for an additional $10 a night fee they will bring you one. Even a Holiday Inn Expresses gives you a microwave. The topper was when I went to the front desk to ask them why the entire hotel, especially my floor smells of rancid sulfur, I was blown off and advised they knew. It was like rotten eggs. Bottom line, don’t stay here, you’d be better off at a Motel 6, at least you could have TV reception and not have to shower with your towels.
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Date of stay: September 2024Trip type: Traveled with family
Room Tip:Avoid the entire hotel!
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I stayed here for two nights. The quality of my room was fine but didn't justify the price. I'd give 3/5 stars except that after checking out I noticed an additional $275 charge on my credit card that was not included on my bill. I called the next day to figure out why and they told me it was a "blood fee" because, allegedly, housekeeping found "blood all over the sheets".
Now let me be crystal clear: When I checked out there was absolutely no blood anywhere in the room. I am a male with no naturally occurring or regular bleeding, I had no bloody injuries (or injuries of any sort), or even a bloody nose. I was the only person to step foot in my room for the duration of my stay. I am 100% confident that there was no blood anywhere in the hotel room, especially not on the sheets. Either this happened in a different room and was mistakenly misattributed to mine, it happened after I checked out, or the hotel is deliberately inventing an issue to charge me more for.
In any case, the person I talked to was unable or unwilling to either refund the $275 or provide any kind of documentation or photo evidence of the blood. They told me that for either of those things I would need to talk to the manager but that the manager wasn't available and that I should call back later. I tried calling back several times and every time was either given the same response or wasn't able to get through to a human at all. I tried calling Hilton corporate but all they were able to do was call the hotel on my behalf, and the hotel told them the same thing they told me (manager not available, call back later). So after trying to resolve this issue with the hotel itself, I gave up and filed a dispute with my credit card company.
A couple other notes unrelated to the above:
1) My parents were also staying at the hotel (different room under different reservation paid with different card), and the ceiling in their room was literally falling down. Like paint chips and dust actively falling all over the floor in a several square foot area.
2) My 92-year-old grandmother was *triple*-charged for her stay.
So yeah.... Maybe stay somewhere else.
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Date of stay: July 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Absolutely the most poorly run hotel I have ever been to. I don’t know where to start. The rooms are dirty. The plumbing either doesn’t work or it’s lose and falling off the sink. I had to change rooms three times. The first time, I asked for the shower to be fixed when I left at 8:30am, by the time I returned at 6:00pm, not only had the issue not been fixed but there was no water at all. They moved me to another room, that was for handicaps and never told me about it, the carpets were filthy, the apolstry on the chair was thread bare and the autumn was missing large pieces of vinyl from wear. In short, the room was disgusting. The third room was cleaner but worn out too. Look for some other place before you stay here.
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Date of stay: August 2024
Value
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Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled solo
Room Tip:Look for some other place to stay.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
It's a shame what mismanagement has done to this property. I understand construction in hotels. I don't understand hotels where the management hides the fact that there's construction from the guests until well after they have checked in. One can only assume that decisions not to advertise construction on booking sites, not have signage anywhere in the lobby, not have the front desk staff tell you at check-in - literally nothing have to come from the top (in this case the hotel's GM Leticia Phocas). 2 rooms 2 nights $1,350 total bill and they offered me $80 as compensation for having my family awoken at 7am to the sound of impact drills directly over our beds. For sending us a note the night before telling us we would have no water from 9-11am, ruining the last day of our trip when we planned to sleep in - forcing us to get up early. And when the manager at the front desk offered me $250 in compensation instead of the cost of the last night of both rooms, the GM overrode that decision and reduced it to $80 or I could have a free night if I ever come back to the property - which I won't. Why? sinks that don't drain, sofas with blood or food stains, toilets that don't stop running all night, thermostats that don't actually shut off the AC when the room is cold enough causing it to get down to 60 degrees at night in the room - and more. There are too many good properties in Evanston for you to consider this property.
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Date of stay: September 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Upon my arrival, I was dismayed to find the rooms quite dirty. Despite checking in at midnight, I struggled to sleep due to the constant racket from the aging AC unit. In frustration, I decided to check out at 5:00 am, only to be hit with a surprising $75 early checkout fee. To compound matters, the front desk staff showed no empathy for the inconvenience I endured. This experience leaves me questioning the long-term viability of this hotel's business approach.
To summarize my ordeal: I dealt with filthy rooms, encountered discourteous service, and battled with a noisy AC unit, all while being charged a total of $247. It's worth noting that the hotel purportedly had a "remodeled floor," yet they placed me in an older section without informing me about the option for an upgraded stay. It begs the question: why not prioritize placing guests on the remodeled floor before filling the less desirable accommodations?
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Date of stay: June 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
So my son and I checked in to look at Northwestern University. When we checked in it felt like we were checking into a motel six very minimal and if we wanted to order breakfast, we had to order off an app and come down and get our breakfast off a tray. We got to our room and had to immediately leave as we had stuff to do at the University. We got back to her room at 8:30 at night. The stench in the hallway lingered into our room. We had requested more towels as well as luggage racks and after an hour and a half of calling the front desk and getting nowhere. I sent my son down yet there was no one to be found in the front desk area so I called the Hilton one 800 number which took an additional 30 minutes and basically got nowhere so checking out tomorrow and hoping to get my money back but I wouldn’t waste your time or money staying in this place you would do better in a motel six which I wouldn’t even stay At.
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Date of stay: September 2023Trip type: Traveled with family
Room Tip:I wouldn’t waste your time, knowing what we know now there’s other places to stay in Evanston and...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Evanston area.
PRICE RANGE
₱6,502 - ₱10,101 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
hilton orrington hotel evanston, orrington hotel evanston
LOCATION
United StatesIllinoisEvanston
NUMBER OF ROOMS
269
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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